Second I flew to Kansas City to be at the MOPS International Convention and shoot some videos about the significance of motherhood. Especially on those wash and rinse and repeat days that all feel the same. IN A LAUNDROMAT.

And the prompt this week? Could it really be anything else? — It’s Laundry.

GO:

It’s easy to get lost in the sameness. The one day that unfolds into the next and the only difference is that this morning I served Cheerios instead of eggs. There are the school bags that weren’t put back on the hook and the dirty socks lying rag tag next to the bathtub instead of in the laundry basket.

There are the midnight wake ups and the 4:30 am wake ups and the begging the alarm clock for mercy and instead getting up with a toddler who has to go potty. You load the words and the clothes. You sort the frustration and the temper tantrums. You ache to make sense of the mess and feel your head caught up like a whirly gig lost in the rinse cycle.

And a buzzer constantly going off in your head.

Maybe this is why the word, “just” has slipped sneaky sneaky in front of the description of what you do – “I’m just a mom.”

Just a life saver.

Just a human raiser.

Just a 24/7 on demand care taker.

The lie of what we “just” do can take root and rob a woman of the glory of raising the next generation of humans. This wonder. This miracle. This might terrifying task so heavy it takes multiple arms and multi-tasking to raise it.

To say it. To own it. To mean it.

The more.

The much much more that you are.

How you take him for counselling. How you find new ways to talk to her about beauty – the deep down kind that no one can see. How you remember to drop off the soccer cleats and pick up the car from its oil change.

How you remember your sisters in South Africa and spend a day doing virtual laundry with them – one wonderous load at a time. And this sharing of ordinary, boring makes us family. Builds a bridge. Lights a fire.

Until we are head up and hair tied up in that messy bun proud to wear the word, “mom,” like that pair of jeans that fits just right. Comfy, soft, familiar.

Mom.

(Confession, this one took me more than five minutes. Yup, that’s just the honest truth).

OK your turn….

37 Comments

Have a blog but intimidated by the techy linky thing:
GO
When I think back to being a new mom, I really don’t even remember the laundry. We had to do it at the laundry mat and we went about once a week.

I don’t remember my laundry, I remember my baby.

And as I have more and more children over the years, my laundry has grown, significantly. Funny; so has my love.

The laundry gets overlooked many times. And as much as I hate to say it, so do the kids as well. It can all be such a fuzzy blur these days lately.

I wonder if years from now when I look back, I will not remember the laundry that stares at me every day right now. The pile that will not let me forget it. The child needing church pants that will not let me forget it.

Nah, I don’t wonder, I know. I will look back, just like with my first child…

Oh, I hope you figure out your tech issues, because this was lovely!!!

Lynn K
on October 18, 2013 at 3:14 am

That is so true Rebekah! Life goes on, but the memories of our babies remain when we do laundry. Love reading what you write… you have a wonderful gift with words, and always know exactly what to say to strike a chord. :)

“The lie of what we “just” do can take root and rob a woman of the glory of raising the next generation of humans. This wonder. This miracle. This might terrifying task so heavy it takes multiple arms and multi-tasking to raise it.
To say it. To own it. To mean it.
The more.
The much much more that you are.”

Oh yes, what glory it is to raise the next generation of humanity. I am so thankful for this reminder. We are so much, MORE.

Lisa-Jo,
Thank you! I can imagine that with all of the travelling your laundry has increased and yet in the middle of this busy time, you have invited us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. What a privilege! What a joy!
So, thank you! I appreciate you so very much.
Much love,
Becky

Jan Stearns
on October 18, 2013 at 3:50 am

“Laundry”…..go, again. Started earlier snd my inauspicious beginning is domewhere out in cyberspace. I began to write about that ‘ thing’ that comes out when I write, when I am doing something, anything , I become self- conscious and judgemental. That’s why this is such a great creation, this 5 minute Friday.
Lose the judge. Forget yourself, and write. I do love to write. Stream of consciousness. So, no fiction stories fir me. Not yet anyway. Okay. Focus. Back to subject at hand: laundry.
memories of taking the laundry to the laundramat because we didn’t have a washer (there was a dryer out in the garage but I don’t recall it ever working). At the laundromat I loved watching the clothes go around. Occasionally I would take the clothes out too early apparently because my mother was not happy when they were still damp. Isnt that better than clothes too hot and wrinkled?! Ah, one wonderful laundry memory is before my daughter was born, I remember taking the tiniest pair of socks I’d ever seen from the dryer, little white socks with a tiny pink and green stripe. How precious the socks, how precious my daughter. Laundry. How I would love yo do laundry again for my mother, I would get it as dry as she wanted. (More than 5 minutes. The Judge now wants to be the writing critic, but that’s another story!)….Enjoy.

Love it. Did you ever think you’d be getting your picture taken at a laundromat? On purpose? Love that everyone rallied around this cause and funded it in such a hurry. God’s people are amazing!

Jan Stearns
on October 18, 2013 at 7:09 am

“Laundry”…..go, again. Started earlier and my inauspicious beginning is somewhere out in cyberspace. I began to write about that ‘ thing’ that comes out when I write, when I am doing something, anything , I become self- conscious and judgemental. That’s why this is such a great creation, this 5 minute Friday.
Lose the judge. Forget yourself, and write. I do love to write. Stream of consciousness. So, no fiction stories for me. Not yet anyway. Okay. Focus. Back to subject at hand: laundry.
memories of taking the laundry to the laundramat because we didn’t have a washer (there was a dryer out in the garage but I don’t recall it ever working). At the laundromat I loved watching the clothes go around. Occasionally I would take the clothes out too early apparently because my mother was not happy when they were still damp. Isnt that better than clothes too hot and wrinkled?! Ah, one wonderful laundry memory is before my daughter was born, I remember taking the tiniest pair of socks I’d ever seen from the dryer, little white socks with a tiny pink and green stripe. How precious the socks, how precious my daughter. Laundry. How I would love to do laundry again for my mother, I would get it as dry as she wanted. (More than 5 minutes. The Judge now wants to be the writing critic, but that’s another story!)….Enjoy.

Jan Stearns
on October 18, 2013 at 7:16 am

I am SO sorry, double post. Rookie. (Embarrasing….yet, now vulnerable, though I know you are a forgiving. wonderful group. I gyess I was so excited, I wanted to make the post ‘took’. Now I can catch up on your posts! Thank you Lisa & company for all uour

Jan Stearns
on October 18, 2013 at 7:19 am

I am SO sorry, double post. Rookie. (Embarrasing….yet, now vulnerable, though I know you are a forgiving. wonderful group. I guess I was so excited, I wanted to make sure the post ‘took’. Now I can catch up on your posts! Thank you Lisa & company for all your hard work.

You are a truly singular, holy voice Lisa. It is a near-impossible thing, after all, to tie together the drudgery of housewife, the beauty of motherhood, the vision of Christ-centered compassion, on the strange modern platform of blogs. Only God, through a willing vessel. Five Minute Friday has become a highlight in my week. A spirit-saturated space that always, always blesses, and leaves me amazed at what other blog links “just happen” to be next to mine, and at what words “just” come on my screen as I type on a Friday mornings.
Blessing
&Cheers,
Leah

Another gorgeous post. I’ve never thought of myself as “just a mom”. I know it’s the most important job in the world! Although I could live without the laundry! :)

Karen Wolfe
on October 18, 2013 at 3:12 pm

Here goes my 5 minutes on laundry…

I do it on a Monday, well sometimes on a Friday. It’s just the two of us, but still so many loads–whites, colors,towels, and sheets. There is no real method to my madness each week, the chore has to be done. Load by load from the washer to the dryer.
It’s not my favorite chore, so I try not to make it pile up because that translates to one whole day to complete laundry. The worst part of the process is the folding and putting up the clean clothes, but it has to be done. Yet, the best part is that smell of clean clothes when its all done, and to know that my man does not have to search for clean socks and underwear.
Laundry day it happens every week, a day a don’t like but one that is essential to the running of my home.

I Love laundry! I can’t wait to have a full basket and a beautiful sunny breezy day to hang it out!
I put the laundry in the washing machine first thing in the morning, letting it soak with some new detergent with a nice smell and highly advertised to make the clothes clean and bright! Then I turn on the machine , letting it cycle until the second rinse when I add the softener that also smells sooo nice! As soon as it’s done, I go to the cellar and take the clothes out, sorting them by size and length and weight (ex. heavy jeans or small facecloths) so they are organized as they dry on the line. After a few hours, I’ll take them off the line, folding and sorting according to what room they belong in, I feel fulfilled, my family and house have clean, fresh clothes to wear!!! :)

This is my first time trying the Five Minute Friday prompt. I guess you can say I felt “prompted” to write about laundry. Thank you for this link up and you can find me at #212. Blessings to all for a great weekend!

Wendy
on October 18, 2013 at 10:39 pm

“Until we are head up and hair tied up in that messy bun proud to wear the word, ‘mom,’ like that pair of jeans that fits just right. Comfy, soft, familiar.”

Yes. As comfy, soft, & familiar as laundry.

Thank you for helping to make us feel like being “just a mom” is a holy thing, a needed thing, a shared thing, & a oh so powerful thing!

how do you think of these things? thank you so much for reminding us of the things that matter most and that we are daughters of God and that we are mothers and that we are amazing

Marinalva Sickler
on October 19, 2013 at 3:38 am

I got to a conclusion that God is an amazing Father! He created a man and woman who are capable to do things beyond our imagination. Then He made man and woman and gave them intelligence to cherish to each other and to love the fruit of the land. We must find a way to praise Him even in middle of hundred of clothes.

Marinalva Sickler
on October 19, 2013 at 4:07 am

Another day I received a Facebook friend request. Surprised I answered Yes. It was from a young teen that years ago had freed me from the outside running water faucet into a cement tank that I did my first laundry. It was a Brazilian setting. Never did before married a laundry. There I was with towels, sheets, pillowcases, socks, clothing, clothing, clothing.
I went to bed and the water continued running at my face. I could not shut it. It ran for days and many nights after my first experience playing as a brave housewife.
What a nightmare the clothing line and the pegs and the wind and the fear of raining over my so well cared laundry. Many others followed that first task and no washer/dryer at the budget.
After the birth of my second child, I recall to make the trip to Sears to buy the machine. There was no money enough to buy the two appliances.
Welcome to the washer machine world! Babies cloth diapers and all the socks were hung now neatly at the line. It was about time that I could only help my young “Maria” at the hard job of laundering.
Let me celebrate the goodness of God’s favor and a new time with dryers and washers, with washers and dryers appliances. The time of singing came to my land of impossibilities to the land of Provisions.
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. (Lamentations 3:19)

I LOVE this! I LIVED in a laundry room with my husband for 5 years…no joke. And it was in that laundry room where God launched my ministry and deepened my love for women! I don’t love doing laundry, but, baby, I am so grateful for the space to air our dirty laundry! Thank you so much for this particular prompt…it spurred on some great memories.

I missed the midnight deadline but since I’ve not gone to sleep yet, I consider it to still be Friday. :)

Thank you for reminding us mamas of all that we really are. We’ve heard the jokes about renaming our title to something fancy that sounds more like a high-power career position, but child-raiser should really be enough as it is so all-encompassing. Still, we forget sometimes. So I’m happy for the 2nd reminder I’ve had in the last 24-hours about how important this piece of the puzzle of my life is. I’m thankful to have been chosen for it.

Hi, Neat post. There is a problem with your site in web explorer, might check this?
IE nonetheless is the market chief and a large component to
other folks will miss your great writing due
to this problem.